Killeen officials consider $350,000 in funding for youth programs

More than $350,000 in funding — which the city acquired from a company building a new apartment complex — allocated for 11 nonprofit organizations remains undistributed as Killeen officials continue to process applications.

“All these organizations do great things in the community,” Killeen City Councilman Jose Segarra said on Tuesday. “We’re anxious to give you this money. But you have to make sure you meet these standards.”

During that council meeting, Assistant City Manager Danielle Singh said that some applicants did not complete the application process, prompting council members to extend a deadline for one group and selecting funding for another.

“You allocated $350,000 for PFC Youth nonprofits and $150,000 for other nonprofits from ARPA,” she said. “The original item to discuss was the PFC Youth nonprofits.”

The Killeen Public Facility Corporation, or PFC, is an incorporated business comprised of the members of the City Council as well as City Manager Kent Cagle to oversee the creation of the $51 million Station42 apartment community in north Killeen, near Business 190 and W.S. Young Drive. As a joint venture between PFC and NRP Group, the developer is not obligated to pay property taxes during its 75-year lease.

Submissions for the grants were initially accepted from April 13 - May 12, with nine youth nonprofits and six other organizations selecting for funding, Singh said. On May 24, the City Council reopened the application process for six months, with a closing date of Nov. 24.

‘Meet a public purpose’

“On June 21, City Council reopened the application process for the nonprofit youth organizations for 30 days, closing July 21,” Singh said. “Each of these has to meet a public purpose.”

That criteria included being an established nonprofit through the IRS, in existence before March 2020 and submitting complete applications.

“We have received 12 nonprofit youth applications, and five of those applicants have met all requirements,” Singh said. “Two did not exist prior to March 2020, four applications need to provide additional paperwork, one application was missing all required items and one application does not have a location identified.”

Janell Ford, the city’s executive director of communications, said officials are still accepting applications for the American Rescue Plan Act Nonprofit Grant Program.

“The (City Council) directed staff to move forward in the process with ... PFC youth nonprofits.”

Those are Killeen Creators, 5 Pearlz of Hope Foundation, Killeen-Fort Hood Kappa Alpha Psi Education and Leadership Foundation, CTX Flames, Greater Vision Community Church, Heart of Texas Goodwill Industries, Inc., Let’s Take A Step Together, Central Texas Youth Services Bureau, Killeen Trojans Youth Sports, KIDZ University (KU Youth Association) and Drive Nation Central Texas.

History of PFC

The PFC will own the 26.5-acre property where the apartment complex is built. NRP is the leaseholder and operations, maintenance and collection of monthly rent would be the responsibility of NRP.

It is the first such arrangement in the city’s history, with the PFC created solely to accommodate the mixed-income apartment community. And after the contract was closed, NRP Group paid the city $350,000 in closing fees and $85,000 to the city’s Parks and Recreation Department for improvements to Conder Park, adjacent to Station42.

Additionally, starting in the fourth year after the project’s completion, the agreement calls for the city to receive more than $100,000 per year via cash flow from carried-interest amounts.

It is that $350,000 the city will use toward funding youth nonprofits through a council resolution.

“Staff will prepare a resolution and draft contracts for selected applicants,” Singh said. “We’re recommending you move forward with the applicants you desire.”

As for the ARPA nonprofits, Singh said that one application met all requirements, two applicants must provide additional paperwork, three did not exist before March 2020, one applicant did not answer any questions or provide required documents and one applicant did not identify a location.